South Africa To Treat All HIV Positive Women, Babies

Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, has unveiled an ambitious new HIV treatment plan for his country. The President revealed plans Tuesday to expand treatment to women and their babies that are HIV positive.

The new policy is in line with the new treatment guidelines issued by the World Health Organization. It calls for HIV-infected pregnant women to be given drugs earlier and while breast-feeding. By treating all HIV-infected babies, survival rates for babies are expected to improve for South Africa, one of only 12 countries where child mortality has worsened since 1990, in part due to AIDS.

President Zuma caused a stir in the past for his belief that a shower could prevent AIDS. Luckily for him, he was educated on the matter and now believes otherwise.

South Africa tops the world in HIV cases. The nation has a population of about 50 million with an estimated 5.7 million people infected with virus.

Even though World AIDS day is over, it doesn’t mean the testing stops. Make sure you get tested people!